DUBAI 23 March 2017: Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) announced that electric vehicle owners can use the charging stations on its premises free of charge from 22nd March 2017 until the end of the year.
As part of its aim to encourage people to purchase or rent zero-emission electric cars, DSOA granted free usage of the charging stations to the general public. The stations will be open around the clock, seven days a week.
The initiative follows a series of projects implemented by the authority in line with Dubai Clean Energy Strategy that promotes energy efficiency while reducing operational costs with the ultimate objective of shaping Dubai into a city with the smallest carbon footprint in the world by 2050.
“We are keen to support the vision of our wise leadership to transform Dubai into a sustainable and environment-friendly city by reducing carbon emissions. A pillar of our business model, sustainability allows us to contribute to strengthening the emirate’s position as a leading global example for achieving the highest standards in environment conservation,” said Commenting on the announcement, Muammar Al Katheeri, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Smart City at DSOA.
Dubai Silicon Oasis has three electric vehicle charging stations installed on its premises, each of which can charge up to two vehicles at once. Aiming to increase the count to seven by 2018, DSOA also continues to implement Green Charger, an electric vehicle charging station infrastructure initiative launched by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).
In addition, the authority recently introduced four electric vehicles, used by on-ground security patrols and the attending facilities management units within Dubai Silicon Oasis. DSOA also received recently two Golf GTE plug-in hybrid models from Al Nabooda Automobiles, the official distributor of Volkswagen in Dubai and the Northern Emirates for use by Engineering Management and Smart City team within DSO.
Through a number of smart and environment-friendly projects, DSOA has already surpassed the goals set for Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 and succeeded in reducing its cumulative energy consumption by 31 per cent.
Dubai’s Carbon Abatement Strategy aims to develop an effective framework to curb Dubai’s carbon footprint. In 2015, the city succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than five million tons, a decrease by approximately nine percent, which beats the seven percent mark.
– By Sheena Amos